Nakai is an extraordinary contemporary ceramic artist from Kanazawa, Japan. Her innovative approach to ceramics redefines traditional techniques, exploring the delicate balance between control and unpredictability.

In the collection Evidence of Time, Record of Action, I attempt to visualise the passage of time through “traces of actions” such as layered stringing and rhythmically left finger marks and fingerprints. At the centre is the sculptural work Vestage, developed through my engagement with the pottery production areas of Tajimi and Shigaraki, and the craft town of Kanazawa. The melting, cracks, and distortions created by incorporating glaze as one of the layers evoke the fragility of time passed.

The abstract shapes are formed by improvising basic structures—coiling the clay and gradually building up a high wall. The aim is to create unique forms without motifs, shaped purely through the accumulation of time and traces of action, so that “just as a glacier creates a new terrain, shapes and patterns are born from the act itself.”